From Zero to Hero: Heavy JDM Influenced Restoration
 

Background:
I originally purchased the first RX-7, a 1990 S5 T2, from a local friend, who needed money more than a car. I paid quite a bit for it and came to find out that the shell was unusable. It was completely rusted underneath beyond the normal means of repair. My original plan was to make it a one to one replica of the one from Initial D. I have now purchased another shell, a 1987 S4 NA, that I’m converting to S5 and adding some performance parts. I have decided not to have any stickers on it, instead, focusing on making it as clean as possible. This is my first project, but I’m trying to do everything right. This project is an extremely long one. I already have a list of things to replace once the car hits version 1.0. I’m always welcome to tips and opinions on where to go next. I’ve come quite a long way since the beginning, but I will start at where it all began.

The Items I Have (Always Updating):
Exterior:
Shine Auto Front Lip
Shine Auto Spec-R Sideskirts
Shine Auto Spec-RE Rear Aero Guards
JDM Folding Mirrors
JDM Turn Signals
JDM Side Markers
JDM Fog Lights
JDM Rear Side Moldings
LRB Speed Aero Belly Pan
LRB Speed Belly Pan
HELLA Vision Plus Housings
SDX Bi-Xenon 5000K HID
Sokie Tech Hood Dampeners
626 Fuel Cap
GRZ Rear Wiper Delete
Miata Antenna Delete

Suspension/Drivetrain:
STANCE Super Sport Coilovers
MazdaSpeed Front Strut Bar
MazdaSpeed Rear Strut Bar

Engine:
Street Port 13B Turbo
Megasquirt 3 Pro
Taylor 200 Aluminum Battery Box
Walbro 255 Fuel Pump
HKS Blow Off Valve
Fluidyne Radiator
Boost Controller
Stainless Steel Clutch Line
Solid Aluminum Motor Mounts
LRB Speed Radiator Cooling Panel
Bonez Race Pipe

Interior:
Bride Zeta III Sport-C Seats
Bride Type FG Seat Rails
MOMO Hub Adapter
MazdaSpeed B-Spec Steering Wheel
MazdaSpeed Leather Shift Knob
MazdaSpeed 03.5 Pedals
Custom RX-7 Floor Mats
Redline Shift Boot
LRB Speed Aluminum Side Vents
LRB Speed Aluminum Defroster Vents

Wheels/Tires:
BSA 1033

The S5 T2:
Here is the original car; the outside looks alright, but it’s just an illusion.
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The New Shell:
I drove 6 hours one way to pick up this shell. I couldn’t find a friend with a truck and trailer…Uhaul was there for me; 325 dollars just to rent before gas. The shell was well worth it though and I’ve almost made my money back parting out what I didn’t need.
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All my cars together
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Making Things Pretty and Blowing Money:
Over the course this project has been active, I’ve constantly been polishing and restoring items to as close to original quality as possible. The only parts I’m using from the original shell is the Motor and the Radiator.
I have the original floor mats that I’ve “dyed” black, as well as some super nice custom ones made by a forum member:
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I purchased three of these and used all the best parts. I’m going to chop off the clock and run a square LCD AFR. PS – Don’t try and wet sand the glass… I learned the hard way.
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After getting the calipers done I decided to go from red to black. I have two sets so I’m going to paint the other ones black when I get the time, will run these for now.
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Purchased the front and rear MazdaSpeed Strut Bar. Found out the rear strut bar didn’t have the brace it needed. I purchased the FazdaSpeed version from Ebay and will be using it’s brace, which is nearly identical. I found out the strut bars had sticky green tape all over them when I got them, that’s why I decided to polish them.
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Polish All the Things!
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There are a few things I knew I wanted for the car, before I even bought one. Bride seats and a MazdaSpeed steering wheel.
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Assemble the Car to Disassemble the Car:
At one point in time I was going to vinyl wrap the car in white and be done with it. I purchased some carpet, supposedly oem (front, rear hatch), from a member. I got it all in only to realize it was black generic carpet glued on top of the original grey. I’m not the one to complain, I’ll purchase a real black interior swap eventually (past ver 1.0). I had all the interior in and decided, I’m going to have the entire car sprayed. I’ve decided on Crystal White. So over the course of the past two months I’ve been tearing apart the car and re-tearing out the interior.

Some pictures with the carpet in before pulling it.
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Where I am at now:
Having officially decided on paint prompted the complete disassembly of the engine bay. I’m trying to do everything right, short of shaving the bay. I’ve decided to keep the top mount and ditch the ebay front mount that came with the red shell. In the future, when I have to rebuild the engine, I’ll probably fork over the money for a V-mount setup (I like my fogs too much lol). I’m also contemplating replacing all the weather stripping on the car.
I’ll skip all the in progress shots and just show where it sits now.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...psxv9nlixi.jpg

The build has taken over my office! (The gf isn’t happy ¯\_(ツ)_/¯).
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What I did Today:
Today I removed the door handles, both interior/exterior, and had a friend assist with drilling holes for the rear spoiler (mine didn’t have a spoiler apparently).
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Looks sweet. You should drift it!

Lol, you know that will never happen.

That's a LOT of work!!! Man! Good job documenting it, keep it up & keep up the progress pics!!!

Thanks Landon! I'm definitely going to try and keep up with it.

Cant wait to see where you go with this :)

I'm going to try not to disappoint! It's definitely going to be a garage queen haha.

Update 8/11/2015:

I had to come back from work early as no one was going to be here to receive my packages. I had a lot of the stuff that was on back order come in today (aero, passenger seat, rails). In the mean time I got quite a few things scuffed and painted. My FCs are housed 30 minutes away from where I actually live (dang apartment!). I have to bring items back with me to do until I can get to the actual FCs on the weekend.

Fedex guy is going to end up knowing me by name:
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The door handles are currently drying. If they don’t turn out very good I’ll probably just use the native black ones from the white FC (these were grey and faded). I’m a little indecisive on the fog light housings. Both of my shells have been resprayed resulting in a slew of overspray hitting each housing. I’m going to try just getting the paint off, but I may end up spraying them black as well.

Scuffed and ready to go!
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These pieces turned out pretty good:
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Hopefully you can see what I’m talking about with the overspray (and not my overspray on the floor! :-P):
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Update 8/16/2015:
Nothing too big happened work wise. I got the tacky blue colored tint pulled off the car. I met with a one man bodyshop and got an estimate for the FC. I’ve been asking around and he quoted me around 3500, which for his work, is very fair. He should be ready for the car by the end of September. Along with the white FC there are two other FC’s in the house behind where mine is housed. The owner has been nice enough to let me pull parts off the blue one when needed.

Door handles finished drying. Going to keep the handles but use the native black locking mechanism from the white FC as it looks better.
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Picture of the tintless window (steam cleaner works wonders getting it and all the glue off).
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Here are the other FCs across the street:
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Update 8/22/2015:
It’s been a fun week. I got the Shine Auto stuff fitted before paint last Thursday. I went out today and removed the side glass and the rest of the weather stripping. I brought some stuff home to get done and got the hood rod painted while cleaning the garage up. I also pulled off all the stickers on the door jams, hood, and bay. The car itself is pretty much ready for the guy to take it. He said once he has ahold of the car that it should be back to me within 6 weeks. I’ll probably work on getting misc items sprayed over the rest of the weekend.

Shine Auto pieces fitted:
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Glass was super easy to pull out. I hope it’s just as easy to get back in.
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The hood seemed white at one time lol:
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Another nice build up. Looking forward to progress!

Update 9/4/2015:
Not much has been happening. Still waiting for the guy to give the all clear for paint and I’ll drop it off. College has kicked back in resulting in a loss of time for me to complete things on weekdays. I’ve been making slow, steady progress on all of the smaller projects that I have brought home with me. This Sunday I’ll be heading over to begin prepping the White FC for the engine to be pulled.

Pulled the headlight housings apart to paint them myself.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...psglgmtyf0.jpg
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This came in the mail. Just need the gauge setup and sway bars now. I intend to go with the Defi Advance CR gauges and Racing Beat front/rear sways.
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Girlfriend finally made me clean up my mess :(.
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Update 9/13/2015:
There has been quite a few happenings since my last post. I ordered a like new set of S5 tails and a S4 instrument cluster with only 88K miles on it (I decided to go back to a S4 cluster /shrug). The tails and cluster I had just weren’t up to the quality I wanted for my project. I finally got around to getting the plastic pieces that sit behind the fog lights painted. I may end up just trying to find an entire clean set with the housings. I also ended up getting a few things pulled from the White FC so we can get the motor out for cleaning. I decided to use the stock TII wheels from the White FC instead of those aftermarket, “whatevers”. I completed phase one in getting them as clean as I possibly could. The wheels don’t have hardly any curb rash, so repairs will be light. I’m going to keep them a silver color.

Here is a horrible picture of the painted plastic:
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Here is a pic of where I currently am in the white FC:
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Here is the current condition of the wheels:
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Another completely disassembled FC. Welcome to the club! You've gone in a somewhat different direction than I did, but there are many similarities as well.

How do you like the Shine Auto rear bumper pieces? I've been thinking of getting them for my car. I like the way they look, plus they would hide damage on my right rear.

Hi Jerry,

I am a big fan of Shine Auto's stuff and their rear bumper guards are no different. Unfortunately, they were a slight miss for me. The moldings did not match up properly with the rear bumper, despite any amount of coercion I gave it. It will end up being hardly noticeable in the end, but it bugged me a bit that it didn't match up exactly. I think once paint goes on it will look spectacular.
I've actually been following your build for a very long time, even before becoming a member. In hindsight, your thread is the one that made me want to restore an RX-7 and gave me a guide on where to aim.

Edit - I just remembered I got the idea to chop off the mazda from the Mazda-RX-7 emblem from you.

Thanks for the kind words.

That's sort of a bummer about the rear aero guards. It makes me slightly hesitant to pull the trigger on them. It still may be better than my alternative.

I like when you said the Fed Ex guy will know you by your first name..lol!

I get notifications on my Postal box that say "Davey Baby" on them..heh..(there are 4 girls on the counter at the Post office..yeehah!)

There are some builds that have them and it looks like the guards were sculpted specifically for their bumper. I'll make sure to get better pictures of the fitment when they are painted and on. Shouldn't be "tooooo" much longer now.

When I first moved into my apartment I had literally no furniture. For the first two weeks there was a truck appearing almost everyday. They loved me for it too...I think :lol:

Update 9/20/2015:
Well, this week has been fairly productive. I got my rear emblem done that I started many moons ago and ended up getting my radiator panel polished out. I went over today and got one of the wheels ready for body filler and came home prematurely (gf needed milk -_-). My APEXi GT Spec Down Pipe came in this week, my APEXi N1 Evo is still backordered. On the other end of the spectrum it’s been a terrible week acquiring parts. I purchased some like new tail lights and a low mileage, in good condition, S4 instrument gauge cluster. Both were damaged upon arrival. I’ve have to file a claim against one of the user’s as he has not replied to any of my messages. I’m generally extremely forgiving about stuff like this, but I paid top dollar for, guaranteed by them, like new items.

Thanks to JerryLH3 for the idea on this one.

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Got the LRB Speed Radiator Panel polished. Looks pretty good; need to go back over it again.

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The Down Pipe is extremely nice.

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Look at all this damaged stuff I got in the mail :(

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It definitely sucks to get damaged parts. Hopefully everything gets worked out.

I still need to fill the hole in the body for my emblem. My car is black, and I think I will paint mine silver for some contrast. It will also match the silver Turbo II fender decals I picked up.

I think painting it silver will turn out really nice on a black background. I have been contemplating going with a different color, but have decided just to leave it the normal "plastic black". I was fortunate enough to acquire a car that just had the emblem stuck on with adhesive tape.

Did your SHINE parts take forever to be received??

As soon a I posted, I remembered I had seen it somewhere before.

"DJ_Merle" has a very clean build. Black car, silver emblems.

https://www.rx7club.com/build-thread.../#post11266533

I had planned on them taking a bit, I believe they are made for each order. I was quoted an ETA of 4-6 weeks and it arrived right around there. As soon as it ships it gets to you fast.

I'm glad you linked me to that build. It looks like an extremely good read just by looking at the original post. I have it bookmarked to go through later. As this is my first project, ever, I don't have the mechanical know-how to complete a lot of the more in-depth tasks. Seeing the steps of all the build threads has been invaluable. If you know of anymore good reads, let me know!

[QUOTE=Akomix;11971757]I had planned on them taking a bit, I believe they are made for each order. I was quoted an ETA of 4-6 weeks and it arrived right around there. As soon as it ships it gets to you fast.


Oh ok dope, was worried. Really want that front lip for my FC. Good build by the way, I like how you're selective with the parts you install. :icon_tup:

Thank you for the kind words and glad I could help!

Update 9/27/2015:
Not much to report on. I got around to rebuilding the instrument cluster. I moved all of the internals from the broken board into one with a good board. My short shifter came in from Rotary Shack and it is extremely nice. I also ordered around five hundred worth of parts from Atkins Rotary. I decided to, for my own assurance, purchase a clutch kit. I also purchased a brand new overflow tank as mine was gross. I ended up installing some rain guards on my STi (Got tired of rain coming in with window cracked). Other than all of that, still just waiting on paint. I’m hoping next Sunday to get the motor pulled from the White FC for cleaning. Since there isn’t much to show, I’ll go over some of my previous projects/purchased parts before I created this thread.

Here is a picture of the rain guards installed on the STi:
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Here is the progress shots of the instrument cluster (everything got cleaned as well; glass is getting polished again):
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Here is the Short Shifter:
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Here is an older project. I took two center consoles and used the best parts. I also reinforced the elbow rest with more padding (still need to recondition it):
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Here are a few of the things I ordered awhile back. The MazdaSpeed Leather Shift Knob and an original Owner’s Manual (Because I had to have one :nod:):
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keep on it!!! Lookin' good

Thanks Landon! Hopefully there will be bigger updates here soon.

Update 10/4/2015:
Well, would you just look at it. I started in at 8:45 AM this morning. Generally, pulling an engine wouldn’t take all day, however, we had to roll the FC into the garage across the street. The twist is, the FC didn’t have any struts or wheels on it. I was fortunate enough to have a group of friends come and assist with swapping the suspension over, and back over, as well as the engine pull. Fall break is next weekend. I’m hoping to have the engine completely clean by the end of the break. It has been neglected and is, cosmetically, horrendous. Depending on work load, I may try and get a few smaller projects done as well.

Here is how the car sat before moving over the suspension:

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Here is the car we borrowed the suspension from as well as an in progress shot:

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Yay we did it:

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Here are some shots of how dirty everything is:

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Did you do anything special to clean up the lens? Did you take it off? both of mine need cleaned up...

Yes, I first took it off. I then used a 5-speed polisher with Meguiar's compound disc/ultimate compound and followed it up with Meguiar's polishing disc/Ultimate Polish. I would not recommend wet sanding like you would normal plastic headlights/tail lights. I ended up messing my idiot cluster that way (used to low of a grit maybe?). The compound/polish works wonders though.

Hope this helps!

Thanks a bunch!! Definitely helped.

Update 10/11/2015:
This weekend has turned out to be extremely fruitful concerning the amount of things getting accomplished. Earlier in the week my parts from Atkins came in; I didn’t know the overflow tank could look so good haha. I’ll have to place another order soon for all the gaskets I’ll need. I ended up getting the rats nest removed and the LRB Speed block off plates installed on the engine Friday. I also got the engine and transmission cleaned. I received a call earlier in the day Friday letting me know that the car was ready to be dropped off for paint. I loaded everything into the car and got it to the shop Saturday night. Sunday I got the rails installed on the Brides. Still have a lot of projects left to get done before the car gets back. I hope I can get them all done by then.

Here is all the stuff that came in from Atkins:
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Here’s the engine and transmission cleaned:
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Picture of the FC on its journey to the paint shop (That’s me on the driver side of the STi :D):
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The Brides with the rails installed:
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That overflow bottle is so clean and non-yellowed!

Keep up the good work - it seems like this car should be quite nice when finished.

Haha, thanks Jerry. I was completely in awe at how a brand new overflow tank compares to a used one, cosmetically. Depending on how terrible the Brides sit over an extended amount of time I may end up selling them and opting for some Infini seats.

Update 10/18/2015:
I didn’t get much done this week. My APEXi N1 Evo came in from a 2 month backorder. Much like the downpipe, I’m extremely impressed with it. I started a few projects that I’ll be showing off in the next update. I had an exciting opportunity to grab some really nice wheels. I noticed that there was a listing on Yahoo Auctions Japan for some MazdaSpeed MS-01f 16x8 +40. I contacted a source from Australia that could get them for me. A few hours later and they were purchased. These wheels were made in 1992 and I got a brand new set! They should be on the way to me shortly. Like the MazdaSpeed steering wheel I knew I wanted a pair of MS-01 before I even got the actual car. I’m super excited for them to come in - (auction pictures will be below). I’ll probably be doing a post with an updated mod list post here before long. I’ve gained quite a few thing since the OP.

Here is the exhaust that came in:
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Here are the wheels that I’m super stoked for:
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Update 10/25/2015:
This update will be in two parts. The first part will what all I’d like to get done before the car is out of paint the second part will be as normal. I’m going to try and get around two projects done a week. I ended up getting three done this week, but to be fair, I started two of them last week. I got the top mount cleaned up, I may spray the bottom of it black to kind of blend in. I’m still debating on whether I want to add the turbo II stickers back to it. It looks like the previous owner used quick steel on my blow off valve. While not how I would have done it, it is functional right now. I decided to spray it to keep the eye attention away from the quick steel. My headliner was not in favorable condition. The metal fasteners that hold the headliner to the top of the car had come off. I used some epoxy and it seems to hold fairly well. The glue is still currently drying so I hope it turned out correctly when I flip it over.

Here is the list of things I’d like to (need to) get done:
Clean Fender Liners
Clean Sunroof Rails
Clean Up Radiator
Clean Weather Stripping
Finish Fog Light Housings (Buy Bolts)
Get Flywheel Resurfaced
Paint Window Sills
Recondition Center Console
Repaint Windshield Wipers
Repolish Idiot Cluster

Here is a before and after of the top mount:
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Here is the blow off valve:
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Here is the headliner:
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Update 11/1/2015:
I literally didn’t accomplish anything this week project wise haha. I had a lot of important life decisions come up that needed my full attention. Now that I have made those decisions, successfully, I will concentrate again on projects. This week I intend to clean and polish the radiator and its shroud. I also have my glove box torn apart and I intend to spray the hinge as there is rust/corrosion on it..somehow. Since I have little to show I’ll post up an updated mod list. I probably won’t post another one until the car is driving. I’ll also include a picture of the floor mats that I purchased ages ago further down. If anyone knows of a coating to assist with keeping the floor mats clean please let me know. I think I’ll use the original dyed floor mats and overlay these when I’m hard parked at a show/meet ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. The wheels are at the warehouse in Japan being prepped for its journey to me. I’m pretty excited to get those in (not that they'll be on the car for awhile :().

Mod List

Exterior:
626 Fuel Cap
GRZ Rear Wiper Delete
HELLA Vision Plus Housings
JDM Fog Lights
JDM Folding Mirrors
JDM Rear Side Moldings
JDM Side Markers
JDM Turn Signals
LRB Speed Aero Belly Pan
LRB Speed Belly Pan
Miata Antenna Delete
SDX Bi-Xenon 5000K HID
Shine Auto Front Lip
Shine Auto Spec-R Sideskirts
Shine Auto Spec-RE Rear Aero Guards
Sokie Tech Hood Dampeners

Suspension/Drivetrain:
MazdaSpeed Front Strut Bar
MazdaSpeed Rear Strut Bar
Racing Beat DTSS Eliminators
Rotary Shack Short Throw Shifter
Solid Aluminum Transmission Mounts
STANCE Super Sport Coilovers

Engine:
APEXi GT Spec Downpipe
APEXi N1 EVO Cat-Back Exhaust
APEXi Power Intake
Atkins Rotary Oil Cap
Bonez Race Pipe
Fluidyne Radiator
HKS Blow Off Valve
Lightweight Flywheel
LRB Speed Block-Off Plates
LRB Speed CAS Cover
LRB Speed Radiator Cooling Panel
Megasquirt 3 Pro
Solid Aluminum Motor Mounts
Stainless Steel Clutch Line
Street Port 13BT
Taylor 200 Aluminum Battery Box
Walbro 255 Fuel Pump

Interior:
Bride Type FG Seat Rails
Bride Zeta III Sport-C Seats
Custom RX-7 Floor Mats
LRB Speed Aluminum Defroster Vents
LRB Speed Aluminum Side Vents
LRB Speed Single Din Gauge Pod
MazdaSpeed 03.5 Pedals
MazdaSpeed B-Spec Steering Wheel
MazdaSpeed Leather Shift Knob
MOMO Hub Adapter
Redline Shift Boot

Wheels/Tires:
RAYS MazdaSpeed MS-01f 16x8 +40

Here is a picture of the floor mats (I actually purchased these before the car itself…lol):
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Here is the hinge, hopefully you can see the corrosion I was talking about:
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nice build so far! where did you find the floor mats?

Hello Gregory,

Thanks! I got them from a forum member. I believe he makes them himself. I'm not sure if he does anymore, but I'll shoot you a PM with his username for you to inquiry.

Now I wonder who's car will run first... if that bracket ever comes in, I may still have a chance. :P

Those wheels look like they've never been used. That's an incredible find there. They should look great.

I also have the same mats, from what I think is safe to assume the same seller.

I'm still putting my money on yours haha. ;-)

Thanks Jerry! I wasn't sure if he wanted his username posted in my thread. They are quality floor mats though.

I should have some pictures of the RX-7 this weekend. Bodywork should be done by today I believe. :)

Update 11/8/2015:
I got a lot done this week. I ordered a slew of parts from Atkins again. Mainly gaskets for the engine, but I did purchase a brand new rear hatch windshield seal. I’m still undecided if I should for the sunroof; I’m leaning towards yes. The majority of the things that I completed were not originally on my list though… lol. I stopped over Monday and got to check out the FC. I had forgotten to hand him the keys to the wheel lugs (whoops). I forgot to bring my camera, but had him snap a pic for me. He should be nearing the primer stage, if he’s not there already. I went over and cleaned up the front and rear support beam bars. The front one was riddled with overspray. I realize it will never be seen, but it would drive me nuts knowing it was there. Focusing on the radiator now, my original plan was to have it completely done this week. I then proceeded to spend 4 hours wet sanding it. I didn't intend on it taking that much time, but I'll polish and finish it next week. I finished out the week with cleaning the shroud cover for the fan. I have a free day next week, I hope I can get a few things knocked out during that day.

Here is an updated picture of the car (as of last Monday):
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The beams cleaned up nice. I doubt they’ll stay that way though:

Front
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Rear
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Here is the radiator (I almost expect another 3-4 hours for polishing):
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Last but not least, the fan shroud. I’m sure it won’t stay clean either..):
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Where did you get the floor mats? Been looking for a set like that! Nice build btw im about to open up my own build thread on myFC

As I said earlier, I purchased them from a forum member. I'll shoot you a PM with his name. Thanks for the compliment! Shoot me a link to your thread when it gets up. I look forward to reading it!

Update 11/15/2015:
A decent amount has happened this week. The car is currently being primed. I stopped over and grabbed a few pics and saw the progress. My order came in from Atkins, which contained mostly gaskets. I finished polishing the radiator, it looks great. It could have been better, but I’m content with how it looks. The sensor was stripped and I had to drill it out, I cut into the threads a bit, so I hope I didn’t do enough damage that it is irreversible. I also ordered a new cap for it. The old original Fluidyne cap was discolored. The window sills were in extremely bad shape. I wire wheeled all the rust off, used rust convert and then sprayed them. They look much better than they originally did. I’m unsure if I want to replace them later on.

Here are the latest pictures of the car (still 2-3 weeks out from having the chassis back):
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Here are all the goodies that came in from Atkins (I’m always amazed how much the little things cost):
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Here is the end result of 6-8 hours of wet sanding and polishing on the radiator:
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The window sills turned out pretty good in my opinion. Here are some before and after shots:
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Looking good. Your paid professional body guy seems to move a lot faster than my volunteer body guy.




I'm sure you could guess, but I am my body guy. Here was the car as of last weekend:

https://i189.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0aeizcnh.jpg

Those MS-01 wheels! Looks like a very quality build coming together :icon_tup:

Awesome daily you have too!

Thanks Jerry. Although it's making great progress, I still wish I could have done it all myself. Your car is looking good! I don't recall seeing that pic in your thread ;-)

Thanks! I'm still waiting on the wheels to come in. There was a slight miscalculation on shipping charges, working on getting that taken care of.